Feed-trough



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

N. R.' MEDA U GH FEBD-TROUGH.

No. 599,572, Pament edrebfzz, 1898.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Feb. 22, 1898.

N. R.- MBD'AUGH.

' FEED TROUGH.

(No Model.)

l lllllll lllll /M/ v n////// 7///////// UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NORMAN R. MEDAUGH, or ABANAKA, OHIO.

FEED-TROUGH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,572, dated February22, 1898.

Application filed March 25, 1897. Serial No. 629,223. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN RICHARD ME- DAUGH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Abanaka, Van Wert county, State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed-Troughs; andmypreferred manner of carrying out'the invention is set forth in thefollowing full, clear, andexactdescription,terminatingwith claimsparticularly specifying the novelty.

- This invention relates to the care of live stock, and more especiallyto that class of devices known as feed-troughs, and the object of thesame isto produce a trough which will prevent the crowding and pushingof the stock, so as to deprive the weaker pigs or animals of their shareof the food, as well as to produce a device wherein the operator cangain convenient access to the trough for filling or for cleaning itWithout interruption to his labors by the stock.

To this end the invention consists in the construction hereinafter morefully described and claimed, and as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Figure l'is a sectional view of the simplest form ofmy improved trough. Fig. 2 is a perspective detail of the sliding gateor door therefor. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the double form with the gateremoved. Fig. 4 is a detail of the gate. Fig. 5 is a vertical section ofa slight modification. Fig. 6 is aperspective viewof this trough onrunners and with the gate slightly tipped to the rear to betterillustrate the trough and strip, and Fig. 7 is a plan view showing t-heuse of the latter form.

In the simplest form of my improved trough, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2,) 1is the pig or hog pen, 2 the trough proper located across one endthereof, and 3 a strip secured transversely across the trough at aboutits center and provided with two holes 4 4, this strip serving tostrengthen the trough and prevent its spreading at the center when it ismade of sheet metal or light lumber, as well as having the functionsdescribed below. 5 is the gate, across whose upper end is secured abeamor strip 6. '8 are cleats "secured within the walls of the pen and uponwhich move slides 7 having handles 7 at their front ends to be graspedby the operator. The gate 5 and beam 6 are secured rigidly to the slides7 and the latter move horizontally, while the gate hangs alwaysvertical. Sliding through guides or eyes 10 10 on the outer face of thegate is a bolt 11, whose lower end is adapted to engage the holes in theupper face of the strip 3 and whose upper end has a ring or handle 12 tobe grasped by the operator. At the lower edge of the gate a notch 5 ispreferably formed to stand astride the strip 3 in order to permit thegate to extend as low as possible and move closely over the upper partof the trough. With this construction of parts the operator comes withhis swill to the right side of the pen, (shown in Fig. 1,) raises thering-shaped handle 12, presses the gate inward, drops the tip of thebolt 11 into the innermost hole 4, fills the trough, and then slides thegate back to its outermost'position and locks it there, so as to allowthe stock to feed; or the gate may be removed entirely by lifting itsslides off the cleats. Hence the member 5 serves as a gate, and it mayalso be used as a door between two pens or between the two parts ordivisions of a single pen.

one end being connected, as at 12, with the bolt 11 and the other endhaving a handle 75,

standing in proper position adjacent one of the handles 7 to permit theoperator to press his thumb thereon, so as to raise the tip of the bolt11 out of one of the holes 4before attempting to move the slides ontheir supporting-strips 8. The operation is the same as above, but theconstruction provides greater convenience, as the hand need not beremoved from the main handle 7 to operate the bolt. The double form ofthis pen is shown in Fig. 3 and the gate therefor in Fig. 4. The pen istwice as long and each part the same, except that the trough proper musthere be contin ued outward beyond one side of the pen-body, as at 2, inorder to permit the ready reception of the swill, for, the pen beingbuilt on each side of the trough, the operator could not get at thelatter, as in Fig. 2. Such being a fact, the gate 5 must have a mainhandle 74, projecting to within reach. Here I show a lever, as at 72,pivoted, as at 73, on the top of the pen-body, a link 71 connecting itsinner end with the gate, and its outer end 7t constituting a main handleto be grasped by the operator and moved in either direction, as desired;also, the bolt-lever must here be used, located so that its outer end orhandle 75 can be grasped by the operator as he stands at the side of thepen and properly manipulated to raise and lower the tip of the bolt.There is here also preferably an additional hole l, midway between theendmost holes at it in the strip 3, and the trough is slightly wider.

The gate and bolt are obviously worked by the handles 74: and 75, andthe swill is poured into the trough at 2' and runs in under the gate.The latter can be set at either extremity of its movement to cut off oneor the other pen from the trough, or it can stand over the center, sothat the pigs in both pens may feed, though I prefer to bolt it in suchcentral position by means of the hole 4.

It will be obvious that various changes in the details of constructioncould be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and Ihave indicated in Fig. 5 a few of them which occur to me now. In somecases the sides of the pen are quite high, and a gate supported 011cleats 8 near the top only would be apt to swing undesirably as it wasmoved to and fro. I therefore provide an additional pair of cleats 8,secured within the sides of the pen near its bottom, and fasten acrossthe gate 5 an additional beam (3, to whose ends and the edges of thegate are secured slides 7 resting and moving on the cleats 8, as seen.If the pen and gate are moderately high, the handle will be attached tothe gate about midway of its height, as at and the light lever 11 willbe pivoted, as at 60", to the handle, so that its own handle orthumb-piece shall stand within convenient reach of the operator. If thegate is very high, the handle may be still lower, even formed at thefront end or ends of the slide or slides, as indicated in dotted linesat 71, and the light lever would be pivoted thereto, as at 11. If thegate were quite wide, there might be one handle near the transversecenter thereof, or, if two were desired, an additional one could beprovided near the transverse center, as at 7 O in Fig. 6.

A further modification to which myinvention is susceptible is also shownin Fig. 6- that is, means for using the gate in connection with afeed-trough which is portable, as where the hog-owner keeps his stock ina field rather than in a pen and desires to carry the food to them onlyat proper times. In this construction 30 30 are runners, in pairs,double-ended, so as to move in either direction freely and connected bycross-bars 31. There are preferably about three pairs of such supports(so called because wheels might be used insteadlof runners, as indicatedin dotted lines at 30) supporting the ends and center of a long trough2. In each endmost cross-bar is an eye 32, to which horse or other powermay be attached for moving the whole. Rising from each endmost cross-baris a pair of uprights 80, connected across their tops, as at 81, andthus forming the equivalents of the cleats 8' in Fig. 1. The ends of thetrough 2 preferably pass between these uprights, as shown, and may beclosed, as usual, or left open, and cross boards 82 secured to the outerfaces of the uprights and extending for some distance above and outsidethe trough to prevent the stock crowding into the ends thereof. Theseboards would thus close the ends of the trough, and the latter wouldthen possiblybe made removable from its supports, as for cleaning orrepair. 5 designates the gate, here shown as slightly tipped to the rearthe better to illustrate the trough and strip, although it will beunderstood that the gate never occupies this position when in use, beingso illustrated herein merely for the sake of clearness. 7 are the slidesadapted to be supported on the cleats or cross-pieces 81, and thenotched lower edge 5 moves over the strip 3, which has holes 4 and 4, asabove set forth. The same arrangement of bolt 11 in eyes 10 and operatedby the light lever 11, havinga thumb-piece 75 adjacent the handle 70, isalso here employed.

The use of this device (or at least one use) is shown in Fig. 7. 1 is afield containing the hogs, and hence the equivalent of the pen. Thisfield has a stationary fence 83, with an opening 84:, possibly providedwith a gate or with bars to be let down. The trough is drawn to theposition indicated about opposite this gate, and temporary fence-panels85 are set up, so as to keep the hogs from the gate and leave room forthe operator, as at 1", between the fence S3 and the trough. This spacehas its ends closed by the panels 85 and the extremities of the boards82, if used. The trough, with its gate, is then used in the manner aboveset forth. After the stock have been fed they are driven back into thefield 1", the gate closed at Set, the panels 85 removed, and the troughcan be drawn to a new position, where it is again used in like manner.

IVhat is claimed as new is 1. The combination with a pen having cleatssecured within its side walls, and a transverse trough beneath saidcleats; of slides supported by the cleats, means for moving the slides,and a gate pendent from the latter and moving above the trough, as andfor the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a feed-trough, a pair of uprights near its ends,and a strip secured across the trough and having holes near itsextremities and one near its center; of cleats sustained by theuprights, slides moving on the cleats and connected byabeam, a gatependent therefrom, and a bolt sliding vertically in guides on the gatewith its tip adapted to enter any of said holes, the gate at eitherextreme position closing the trough, and at its intermediate positionpermitting I the feeding of stock from both sides, substantially asdescribed. 1

3. The combination with two inclosures end to end, a trough extendingacross between them and out beyond them at one side, astrip securedacross the trough and having holes in its upper face, and cleats securedto the sides of the inclosures above the trough; of slides supported onthe cleats, a gate connected withand carried by the slides, a bolt onthe gate adapted to enter any of the holes in said strip, and a handleconnected to the gate and by which it may be moved, as and for thepurpose set forth. I

4. i The combination with a pen having elevated cleats secured withinits side walls, a transverse trough beneath said cleats, and a stripsecured across the trough and having holes in its upper face; ofslidesresting on said cleats, a beam connecting the slides, a gate secured toand pendent from the beam, means for moving the gate, beam, and slidessimultaneously, and a bolt moving in guides in the gate withits tipadapted to enter the holes in the cleat and its handle within reach ofthe operator, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination with a pen having cleats secured within its sidewalls, a transverse trough beneath said cleats, and a strip across thetrough with holes in its upper face; of slides resting on said cleats, agatesupported by the slides, a main handle for moving the slides, aboltmounted in guides on the gate with'its tip adapted to enter theholes in the strip, and a handle therefor adjacent the main handle andwithin reach of the operator, as and for the purpose set forth.

'6. The combination with a pen having upright side walls,oleats securedtherein in pairs near top and bottom, a transverse trough beneath thelower cleats, and a strip across the trough and having holes in itsupper face; of two pairs of slides resting on the cleats, an uprightgate connected to all the slides, a main handle projecting from the faceof the gate, a movable bolt carried by the gate with its tip adapted toenter the holes in said strip, and a light lever pivotedto said mainhandle and'having one end linked to the bolt and the other end providedwith a handle adjacent the main handle, as and for the purpose setforth.

.7. The herein described portable feedtrough comprising the trough 2mounted on movable supports and having two uprights 80 at each endconnected in pairs by cleats 81, slides 7 moving on said cleats, a gate5 pendent from the slides and moving between the pairs of uprights, abolt on the gate, crossboards 82 at the ends of the trough, a stripacross the top of the trough provided with holes with which said boltengages, and a main handle formoving the gate, all as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my signature on this the23d day of

